Step 8: Demystifying the horizon

Step 9: Moving on

However, before I let you loose into the world to draw advanced shapes and the like, you may want to take a gander at "How to draw - Advanced Linear P...

In this first installment of my ongoing series of "How to Draw" Instructables, I will show you how to create real-looking three dimensional shapes.

Linear Perspective is the most basic form of perspective in which all objects with faces parallel to the horizon, appear to converge in the distance at a single point on the horizon (the vanishing point).

To learn what on Earth this possibly means, grab yourself:

- a few sheets of 18" x 24" paper- a pencil- a straight metal ruler- a white mars plastic eraser

Step 1: Vanishing horizons.

If you were to stand on a plane and look out into the distance, the imaginary line that demarcates between the Earth and the sky is considered the horizon. For argument's sake, the horizon is a straight line (even though in actual space it is slightly curved).

Now, if you were to stare straight ahead at the horizon, the point on the horizon directly in front of you would be considered the vanishing point. It's called the vanishing point since all objects seem to vanish towards it as they go back into the distance.

Step 2: A single point. A single perspective.

One-point perspective is marked by the fact that all objects seem to converge towards one solitary point on the horizon. In order for all objects to converge at a single point, their closest face has to appear to be parallel to horizon.

In other words, if there was a cube between you and the horizon, the face of the cube closest to you would have two horizontal lines parallel to the horizon. In fact, everything viewed in this perspective must have horizontal lines parallel to the horizon.

If horizontal lines are no longer parallel, you have just gained a whole new perspective (but lets not worry about that for now).

Very nice tutorial. I've always been big on perspective, so for an example to others, here's a very small idea of what can be done. The city was from back in middle school, never finished it. The cubicle maze.. Well, that came out when I got into abstracts. I still have it hanging on my wall (made it when I was... 17?) But seriously- good tutorial for anyone wanting to learn this kind of stuff. Sorry- this thing won't let me make the images any larger... so they are kind of hard to see.

hi i really would like to learn how to draw perspective drawing of 2d drawing. For example u have been told to convert a 2d birds eye view of buildings into a front view perspective drawing. How would you do that?

Hi, I have a micro teaching assessment in two weeks. I have picked one point perspective subject to teach in 15 mins, but for practical task bit not sure what I can ask students to do in 10 mins. Can you help me in this? A simple, quick practice for one point perspective! Many thanks

hi i really would like to learn how to draw perspective drawing of 2d drawing. For example u have been told to convert a 2d birds eye view of buildings into a front view perspective drawing. How would you do that?

Like most artists, I formally learned to create perspective drawings while in high school. However, I soon found that when drawing products for use in catalogs, a certain amount of “fudging” had to be done. As your drawing recedes back into space, distortion occurs that really messes with the drawings viewability. Back in my studio days, some of the illustrators used a gadget called a rabbit ears. It looked like a goofy type of T-square that was articulated in a way that would allow the artist to utilize vanishing points that would almost have been impossible otherwise. A little digging on the internet should result in an explanation of the construction and use of this handy little gadget. Also, I found that if a drawing “looks right”, it usually is good enough. I’ve personally drawn thousands of product illustrations in perspective, both conventionally and on computer. I have to say this; as a pro, you have to learn to know when to say when, as far as accuracy is concerned. Most clients never know how much effort goes into a piece of art (heck, their clients), but they do know what they want to spend. Usually, there is a wide gulf between the two.

When I learned this in High School Art Class I made many drawings utilizing this technique. I loved how the pictures turned out and was tickled to find I actually had some talent for art. Years later I tried to draw a covered bridge using this technique, it turned out fairly well but was missing the depth I wanted to convey, your ible has shown me what I was missing. Thank you and awesome job!!

Im off to university end of this year, and have never done perspective drawing before. My course will involve alot of it, and i would just like to say. Your tutorial has been a great help, you've giving me the basics to survive... :) Thankyou very much (:

It has been 410 days since you posted this ible, whet is "How to Draw- Advanced Linear Perspective" going to be published? My art class is working with perspective now, and I'm really into it! Thank you for this ible though.

I teach drawing--currently at Marshall University--and I'm always looking for new tools for teaching linear perspective that make it more fun and less intimidating. I stumbled on this while searching around. This is a great little tutorial, but there is a problem with the text in step 2. You have used the word "perpendicular" when you should have used "parallel." The horizontal edges of the buildings that face the viewer are PARALLEL to the horizon line, and the facing planes of those buildings are PARALLEL to the picture plane. In the situation shown, any plane or edge that is not parallel to the picture plane (the invisible window that the viewer looks through) is seen in a foreshortened view and will appear in a drawing as a diagonal or a vertical.

everyone is going to want to know how to draw something different if you want to draw then draw study the human anatomy muscle groups things like that practice drawing those specifically for comic books but there will never be a how to that will magically make you become an amazing artist just by reading it but maybe someone could make a 'how to make a how to that will magically make you become an amazing artist just by reading it' then we'd be getting somewhere

About This Instructable

Bio:My name is Randy and I run the Instructables Design Studio. I'm also the author of the books 'Simple Bots,' and '62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer'. Since I am always making new things, subscri...read more »